Bible

Bible / church planting / revolution church sacramento — 1 Comment
19
Jun 09

Church Planting & Philippians: Final Thoughts

It’s been a great week studying, praying, and mediating through the Book of Philippians…four chapters in 4 days. Here are some of my final thoughts:

  • Even though the Philippian church was supportive of Paul and gave him cause to rejoice always, it is clear that in Philippians 4:2-3 NIV that there was some strife going on with some of the leadership. If you’re looking for the perfect church, you will always be looking as it does not exist!
  • Jesus is coming back and we should live as if we believe it to be true. We may not know the exact day or hour, but Christ has promised to return and Paul reminds us of that in Philppians 4:5 MSG. We must act now and not presume that since there is always tomorrow we can relax. 
  • Even though there is emphasis on the financial gifts Paul received from the church in Philippi, he makes it clear in Philippians 4:11 that he is not in need and trusts in God to provide for him in all things. With money comes a lot of things, especially a sense of entitlement. May we never be afraid to say no to a big donor that asks for things in return. May we always trust in God that he will send his provision to us in proportion to what we need. He is always right on time!
  • In Philippians 2:25 Paul talks about sending Epaphroditus to help the church in Philippi. In verse 19 he mentioned sending Timothy. I am reminded that God has sent who we needed to support us in the time of our preview services. Whether we move forward as an actual launch team and core group remains to be seen, but I will never forget the things our group have done to get us here. They’ve worked hard to put their best foot forward for small gatherings on our Sunday preview services and God will honor that and their worship in the future. We all need help and when the right people come our way we don’t always count them as blessings. Team Revolution, please know that I am blessed beyond measure and indebted to each of you!
  • Philippians 3 AMP was a big chapter for me. It is a reminder I need to remain humble and put no confidence in my flesh or in others. Everything must be from God and for God, done in a spirit of reverence and humility. It’s been a long road for me to become humbled before my God, but he has been working on me from my first days as a new creation in him and he is continuing that good work in me this day. 
  • God has started something good within us at Revolution Church Sacramento. For some it may be the start of an amazing journey with us and for others it may be the start of a new journey in a new place or in an old place with a fresh, new perspective. Regardless of where we each go when our preview services finish next week, we have been put together for a reason and it’s been a great time! The presence of the Lord has been upon us and I am being stretched, shaped and prepared to keep pressing on towards the goal with clearer insight on how to move forward. 
  • Church planting has been difficult and easy, fun and painstaking, at times second nature and other times a battle of wills. Through it all, it has given me a sense of purpose and a deep inner peace that nothing else has ever done for me. It is so strange to me to think of future successes owing all things to Christ who gives me strength rather than immediate, tangible rewards from my business experience. It is a place that brings me great joy and I can freely admit that if another day ever comes in my time with Revolution Church Sacramento, I stand here right now with no regrets and only love for my fellow human being and a joy in knowing that the world has already been made a better place through our actions. 
  • As it is written in Philippians 2:17-18: “But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” Friends, let us rejoice and be glad together! To the people of Revolution Church Sacramento, I pray that we will be rejoicing together for years to come. Your sacrifice and service has made me so proud of your hearts for the kingdom and your love and grace.  
  • Share/Bookmark
Bible / Sacramento / church planting / jesus / ministry / prayer — No Comments
18
Jun 09

Church Planting & Philippians 4

The NIV version of Philippians 4:4-7 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always. Not just once, but it is written twice! It reminds us to let our gentleness be apparent to all and to not be anxious about anything. We are instructed to pray about everything and be thankful as the peace of God will take us beyond anything we ever imagined, and guard our hearts and minds as we focus on Christ Jesus.

As I mentioned earlier, the common thread through all of Philippians is the notion of joy and rejoicing. Some days in ministry, especially in church planting, at the end of the day of being beaten down and weary it is difficult to think of rejoicing. Not only are we faced with battling the community as we represent Christ and faith in him to a world that is in opposition to him, but we also face issues within our leadership and people, anger from those hurt by the church in the past, people that feel we are divisive because they think God’s Word excludes them, working without similar financial compensation that we would get in any other workplace, people committing with their lips yet not with their hands, etc. However, if anyone of us looks at these and wishes they were not in ministry I have some simple advice. GET OUT NOW! Paul explains to us and we need to understand that we are called to rejoice in all things. We are on the side of righteousness and eternal life. We are not working for treasures here on earth. If at the end of the day you can’t get yourself to come around and go face the world the next morning, this probably isn’t the time for you to be in ministry. Go do something else and be happy. Ministry is difficult. Church planting is difficult. It takes someone committed to keep working at it for a cause greater than themselves and their personal feelings. I have gotten to some low points and faced the decision of leaving the ministry or giving up on the vision of seeing a transformational community come together here in Sacramento. It’s easy to give up. Sometimes it feels right to want to give up. We need to work through those feelings and jump back into the fire or really make the decision to get out. Otherwise you will crash and burn and be useless to others, probably even useless to yourself. It’s not necessarily the end of your ministry, but quite possibly it may be a well-needed rest to be ready for God’s timing when he calls you to something new.

We are called to pray and give thanks in everything. However, we aren’t always going to be able to. It’s just a fact. No one can really be rejoicing in the face of adversity, pain, heartbreak or loss. How we handle those times will determine how we move forward and if we will ever get to a place of rejoicing after the fire has come and gone. For me, the biggest saving grace in my life are the friends that God has surrounded me with. As an atheist for 37 years before becoming a Christian, you can imagine that most of my friends are worldly and in some instances atheists as well. During the rough times, these friends of mine will typically encourage me to get out and go back to what used to bring me a six figure income, nice cars and travel. To them, my reasoning for going away from that life never quite clicked in their minds. Most of them envied my position and respected me for my worldly credentials and successes. So, I value my new friendships with people that know my struggles and encourage me. I could not be where I am without them. When I look at my friendships, all of them being outside of my city, I revel in God’s favor on my life. My friends aren’t wealthy and can’t jump in and help me setup sound equipment or invite people to connect with our community of faith, but they are always there anytime I call or email. They always listen before speaking. Whether it’s days or months that pass by without contact, or maybe even just a few hours…they are always by my side and praying to God for me. For this I rejoice even though I face difficult days and rejection at times. It is easy to get back on the horse after getting kicked off and stomped when one has friends like I do!

In my study time through Philippians this week, I find that The Message translation of verses 4-7 speak to me in ways that most fill my heart with joy. It is written in a way that encourages and reminds us that we should celebrate the gift of ministering to others that God has given us. With this gift comes great responsibility, but knowing there is nothing else I could do right now than this, it is a sweet and pleasant taste that I want to savor…to know that somewhere, someone is going to know Christ eternally through something that is said or done in the context of living life as followers of him is an amazing thing. So amazing, that I want to share the experience with others and bring them along in this journey. I want to share the love of Christ in my heart with others and let them know his healing power still works, that miracles happen all around us every day, that Satan is fooling and deceiving a lot of people that are clueless to his lies. There is great power in Christ that needs to be manifested through his people. I’m looking for a team of people that believe that and desire to serve under this powerful anointing on Sacramento. Know that the Lord is near and he is coming soon. Consider our time here on earth to be short…how does that make you feel? Does it move you to do more? Is something stirring in your heart when you think about it? I close with Philippians 4:4-7 MSG…it’s time to stand up and celebrate!

    Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

    Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

  • Share/Bookmark
Bible / church / culture / jesus / life / ministry / people — 5 Comments
10
Jun 09

The church’s role in financial freedom

My friend Kenny Jahng recently posted this question to twitter:

@kkcoolj Does the Church have any responsibility to teach its own brothers & sisters 2 treat THEMSELVES w/ financial accountability, responsibility?

From this we engaged in some conversation about the matter via twitter, but 140 character bursts won’t really add clarity to my position. Thus, this blog post was created to reinforce my views.

Kenny and I are on different sides of the fence on this issue. In actuality, he and most other people may be on the other side of the fence from me. However, I feel the church is not a classroom and we put off a lot of people when we plead with the church to listen to messages that have no relevance to them. Let me explain: I believe that the bride of Christ [Revelation 19:7] should be more concerned about matters of the kingdom than about personal shortcomings. I am not interested in programs and classes, instead I want people far from God to come to know that his people are open-minded, big-hearted, compassionate and operating under grace and mercy from above and no one is above the love of Christ or so far away that he won’t draw near to them.

Is being responsible with our finances a biblical principle? Absolutely! Proverbs 22:26-27 and Luke 16:1-4 are a key verse for me in this respect. Should the church share the Word of God in regards to money? Definitely. However, should the church make it a point to minister to people about money assuming that no one knows how to be good stewards of their finances? I don’t think so.

As bad as the economy is right now and with all of the defaults on mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, etc. know that there are still many people out there with perfect credit, stable employment and comfortable homes. Some even have much more in excess of their needs with no worries about making ends meet. Will talking to them at length about managing their finances really help them to know Christ and to be light to others that do not know Jesus eternally? I can’t connect the two. There is a place to talk about finances and money in context of the gospel, but becoming financial professors to the community at large isn’t what I believe the church was intended to do.

As a side note, what does financial freedom really do? In its basic form, it empowers people to know peace without Christ. They get complacent and sometimes even become so thrifty that they fail to help others as they horde their money in fear of losing it. If we as the church teach people to manage their finances better, they feel less need for God and others. They take the information and put it in the bank for safe keeping. In contrast to that, rather than force feed people messages on financial freedom or prosperity, what if we explained that our finances really have God as the source? If we took a biblical view of what money is and how God entrusted us as stewards with hearts of compassion for others that have less. Imagine what the world would be like if we as supposed Christ followers stopped looking to the church as having to meet their personal needs and looked to others as the Bible tells us to in Matthew 25:31-46:

    31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

    34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

    37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

    40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

    41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

    44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

    45“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

    46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

We as the church need to show others just how much Christ loves them and has a plan for their lives which leads not to peace in this world, but peace on an uncomparable, eternal level with the God of the universe. Let us focus on Jesus, the lover of our soul and less on how we can have happier lives because of a false understanding that God wants us to be happy. God never, ever called on us to be happy. He did, however, call us to be holy!

  • Share/Bookmark
Bible / Christianity / book review / ministry — 5 Comments
7
May 09

The Myth Of A Christian Religion, Part 1

myth-of-a-christian-religion-blogOne of the people that has spoken volumes into my life and ministry is Dallas Willard. This is probably one of the reasons why I am so drawn to the thoughts and writings of Gregory Boyd as he is also a student of Willard’s teachings on the Kingdom of God.

Boyd’s latest book, The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing Your Religion for the Beauty of a Revolution is an amazing read! So amazing that I can’t just write a review of it, rather I’d like to break it down into chapters and expound upon some connections and challenges.

In the introduction, Pastor Boyd declares something so simple, yet misunderstood. It summarizes the core of Willard’s teachings:

This may surprise or even offend you, but Jesus is not the founder of the Christian religion. True, a religion arose centuries after he lived tht was called “Christian,” but…in many respects the very concept of a “Christian religion” is something of a myth when understood in the light of what Jesus was about.

Yes, you did read that correctly. Yes, I do believe it to be accurate theology. You see, Jesus was more than what we make him out to be. Jesus was more than a prophet…he was actually revolutionary! The Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah was not about religion. In fact, he showed time and time again that he was against religious acts (Luke 18:9-14; Matthew 6:5).

Jesus is known as a great story teller with a knack for sharing his truth in ways that caused people to think, rather than be spoon fed everything. It was unheard of in that day and even his own disciples questioned why he spoke in parables so often. It was all part of the revolution he was creating. A revolution against being religious. Boyd writes:

What Jesus was about had nothing to do with being religious. Read the Gospels! He partied with the worst of sinners and outraged the religious. This is what got him crucified.

What Jesus was about was starting a revolution. He called this revolution the Kingdom of God.

Imagine that! In reading the gospels, we find that in Luke 4:43 NIV Jesus states his purpose in coming to us was to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. This is such an amazing thing that Boyd describes the kingdom of God like this:

The Kingdom of God that Jesus established is centered on one thing, and one thing only: manifesting the beauty of God’s character and thus revolting against everything that is inconsistent with this beauty. The Kingdom is centered on displaying a beauty that revolts.

The kingdom really isn’t about religion after all. It’s about following Christ and all that is beautiful in God’s ways while we shed all that is ugly. As Boyd so perfectly summarizes, “The kingdom, in short, is a beautiful revolution.”

  • Share/Bookmark
Bible / devotion / prayer — 2 Comments
30
Apr 09

Solomon’s one prayer

If God spoke to you and promised to immediately deliver on one prayer, what would you pray? Some may pray for a job, or a house, a spouse, world peace, an end to poverty, strength to just get through the day. Once even Jesus prayed that the burden be taken from him if possible as death on the cross was going to be so painful.

After videotaping a message for LifeChurch.tv‘s One Prayer project, I have the thought of one prayer on my mind a lot. Even this weekend I’m preaching at the mother church and I had to pick some verses from the first half of 1 Kings. This is where Solomon’s one prayer takes place.

I don’t know if I could condense my prayers down to just one if given the opportunity, but let’s see how Solomon responded:

    1 Kings 3:5-12 NIV:

    5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

    6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

    7 “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

    10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

Solomon was so honored by God that he only wanted what God wanted. In verse 9 his prayer is that God grant him a discerning heart to govern his people and to distinguish between right and wrong. How humble and noble is that? He didn’t ask for wealth or obedience from his servants or long life or anything practical from a human perspective. He just wanted to be wise. So often, after seeking things from God, in the end, wouldn’t it have been better had we just asked for wisdom and discernment?

I have such a long list of things I’d like to have for my life, my family, my business, and the church plant. Usually at the top of that list is something that money can buy. However, today I need to re-direct those thoughts into seeking God’s wisdom and asking him to give me a discerning heart. Help me to cut through the garbage and focus on things that money can’t buy. Put my sights not on the silver and gold and things that moth and rust can destroy, but turn to heavenly things and trust that God will give me all that is needed to do his will.

In light of Solomon’s wise choice for his prayer, if God were to grant you one prayer that he would immediately deliver upon, what would you pray?

PS. In honor of Solomon’s humbleness and humility, immediately following the passage above, in verse 13 God tells Solomon: “Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.”

  • Share/Bookmark
← Older Entries
Newer Entries →